Robert Redford: I will be ‘devastated’ if EPA riders pass

Actor Robert Redford said he would be "devastated" if Republicans passed measures that would limit the Environmental Protection Agency's regulatory abilities.



The actor, a longtime environmentalist, said any moves to prohibit the EPA from implementing climate and other regulations would be devastating for himself and the country.



He vowed to try to stop it. 

"All I can do is try," he told The Hill. "I'm going to be devastated if something happens and I think the country will be devastated too. Particularly future generations will be devastated. It's a very narrow way to be."



Redford also said he was going to try to meet with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar while he was in Washington promoting his new film, "The Conspirator."



The movie premiered at Ford's Theatre Sunday night, although it would have needed to move locations if Congress and the White House had been unable to come up with a deal to fund the rest of fiscal year 2011.



Ford's Theatre is part of the National Park Service, which would have shuttered along with the rest of the government.

The six-month federal spending deal reached late Friday night did not include GOP-backed plans to thwart several EPA rules. 

But opponents of EPA climate change rules and other regulations are seeking other vehicles to delay or nullify the controls.

A bill that strips EPA's power to regulate greenhouse gases passed the House last week.